The Civilisation of the Renaissance in Italy

72

Petri Candidi Decembrii Vita Phil. Mariæ Vicecomitis, in Murat. xx., of which however Jovius (Vitæ xii. Vicecomitum p. 186) says not without reason: ‘Quum omissis laudibus quæ in Philippo celebrandæ fuerant, vitia, notaret.’ Guarino praises this prince highly. Rosmino Guarini, ii. p. 75. Jovius, in the above-mentioned work (p. 186 (#x8_x_8_i43)), and Jov. Pontanus, De Liberalitate, ii. cap. 28 and 31, take special notice of his generous conduct to the captive Alfonso.

73

Were the fourteen marble statues of the saints in the Citadel of Milan executed by him? See History of the Frundsbergs, fol. 27.

74

It troubled him: quod aliquando ‘non esse’ necesse esset.

75

Corio, fol. 400; Cagnola, in Archiv. Stor. iii. p. 125.

76

Pii II. Comment. iii. p. 130. Comp. ii. 87. 106. Another and rather darker estimate of Sforza’s fortune is given by Caracciolo, De Varietate Fortunæ, in Murat. xxii. col. 74. See for the opposite view the praises of Sforza’s luck in the Oratio parentalis de divi Francesci Sphortiæ felicitate, by Filelfo (the ready eulogist of any master who paid him), who sung, without publishing, the exploits of Francesco in the Sforziad. Even Decembrio, the moral and literary opponent of Filelfo, celebrates Sforza’s fortune in his biography (Vita Franc. Sphortiæ, in Murat. xx.). The astrologers said: ‘Francesco Sforza’s star brings good luck to a man, but ruin to his descendants.’ Arluni, De Bello Veneto, libri vi. in Grævius, Thes. Antiqu. et Hist. Italicæ, v. pars iii. Comp. also Barth. Facius, De Vir. III. p. 67.

77

Malipiero, Ann. Veneti, Archiv. Stor. vii. i. pp. 216 sqq. 221-4.

78

Important documents as to the murder of Galeazzo Maria Sforza are published by G. D’Adda in the Archivio Storico Lombardo Giornale della Società Lombarda, vol. ii. (1875), pp. 284-94. 1. A Latin epitaph on the murderer Lampugnano, who lost his life in the attempt, and whom the writer represents as saying: ‘Hic lubens quiesco, æternum inquam facinus monumentumque ducibus, principibus, regibus, qui modo sunt quique mox futura trahantur ne quid adversus justitiam faciant dicantve; 2. A Latin letter of Domenico de’ Belli, who, when eleven years old, was present at the murder; 3. The ‘lamento’ of Galeazzo Maria, in which, after calling upon the Virgin Mary and relating the outrage committed upon him, he summons his wife and children, his servants and the Italian cities which obeyed him, to bewail his fate, and sends forth his entreaty to all the nations of the earth, to the nine muses and the gods of antiquity, to set up a universal cry of grief.

79

Chron. Venetum, in Murat. xxiv. col. 65.

80

Malipiero, Ann. Veneti, Archiv. Stor. vii. i. p. 492. Comp. 482, 562.

81

His last words to the same man, Bernardino da Corte, are to be found, certainty with oratorical decorations, but perhaps agreeing in the main with the thoughts of the Moor, in Senarega, Murat. xxiv. col. 567.

82

Diario Ferrarese, in Murat. xxiv. col. 336, 367, 369. The people believed he was forming a treasure.

83

Corio, fol. 448. The after effects of this state of things are clearly recognisable in those of the novels and introductions of Bandello which relate to Milan.

84

Amoretti, Memorie Storiche sulla Vita Ecc. di Lionardo da Vinci, pp. 35 sqq., pp. 83 sqq. Here we may also mention the Moor’s efforts for the improvement of the university of Pavia.

85

See his sonnets in Trucchi, Poesie inedite.

86

Prato, in the Arch. Stor. iii. 298. Comp. 302.

87

Born 1466, betrothed to Isabella, herself six years of age, in 1480, suc. 1484; m. 1490, d. 1519. Isabella’s death, 1539. Her sons, Federigo (1519-1540), made Duke in 1530, and the famous Ferrante Gonzaga. What follows is taken from the correspondence of Isabella, with Appendices, Archiv. Stor., append., tom. ii. communicated by d’Arco. See the same writer, Delle Arti e degli Artifici di Mantova, Mant. 1857-59, 2 vols. The catalogue of the collection has been repeatedly printed. Portrait and biography of Isabella in Didot, Alde Manuce, Paris, 1875, pp. lxi-lxviii. See also below, part ii. chapter 2.

88

Franc. Vettori, in the Arch. Stor. Append., tom. vi. p. 321. For Federigo, see Vespas. Fiorent. pp. 132 sqq. and Prendilacqua, Vita di Vittorino da Feltre, pp. 48-52. V. endeavoured to calm the ambitious youth Federigo, then his scholar, with the words: ‘Tu quoque Cæsar eris.’ There is much literary information respecting him in, e.g., Favre, Mélanges d’Hist. Lit. i. p. 125, note 1.

89

See below, part iii. chapter 3.

90

Castiglione, Cortigiano, l. i.

91

Petr. Bembus, De Guido Ubaldo Feretrio deque Elizabetha Gonzaga Urbini ducibus, Venetis, 1530. Also in Bembo’s Works, Basel, 1566, i. pp. 529-624. In the form of a dialogue; contains among other things, the letter of Frid. Fregosus and the speech of Odaxius on Guido’s life and death.

92

What follows is chiefly taken from the Annales Estenses, in Murat. xx. and the Diario Ferrarese, Murat. xxiv

93

See Bandello, i. nov. 32.

94

Diario Ferrar. l. c. col. 347.

95

Paul. Jov. Vita Alfonsi ducis, ed. Flor. 1550, also an Italian by Giovanbattista Gelli, Flor. 1553.

96

Paulus Jovius, l. c.